Apollo raises biggest private equity fund since US financial crisis

Apollo Global Management LLC had completed fundraising for its latest private equity fund, the New York-based firm said on Thursday. The company had amassed $17.5 billion from its investors, the highest amount any such fund has closed since the financial crisis, according to Reuters.

Apollo, together with its investment professionals, pledged a further $880 million for the fund, the firm said in a statement. The latest flagship fund is called Apollo Investment Fund VIII, the report detailed.

In a statement, Apollo Chief Executive Leon Black said of the fund: "Fund VIII benefited from the support of a diversified group of investors, including many public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, corporate pensions, endowments and foundations, funds of funds and high net worth investors."

The private equity funds of Apollo mainly focus on distressed investments, opportunistic buyours, and corporate carve-outs. As of the end of September 2013, Apollo held $113 billion in assets under management with $43 billion of it in private equity, Reuters reported.